1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an armrest, more particularly to an armrest that has upper and lateral surfaces wholly covered by oakwood.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional armrest, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,878 B1, is shown to comprise an armrest body 1, a veneer layer 2 covering the upper and lateral surfaces 102, 103 of the armrest body 1, and a pair of elongate decorative ribs 3 connected respectively to the lateral surfaces 103 of the armrest body 1. The armrest body 1 is made of a wood material different from oakwood, such as redwood, cedarwood and rubber wood, and includes a lower surface 101, an upper surface 102, and opposing lateral surfaces 103 that interconnect the lower and upper surfaces 101, 102. Each of the lateral surfaces 103 is formed with a groove 104 that extends in the longitudinal direction. The veneer layer 2 is made of oak wood, and includes an upper veneer portion 201 and a pair of lower veneer portions 202. The upper veneer portion 201 is fixedly attached to the upper surface 102 and curved surface sections of the lateral surfaces 103 of the armrest body 1. The lower veneer portions 202 are fixedly and respectively attached to planar surface sections of the lateral surfaces 103 of the armrest body 1. Each of the decorative ribs 3 is made of oak wood, has a teardrop cross-section, extends in the longitudinal direction, and is fixed in the groove 104 of a respective one of the lateral surfaces 103 of the armrest body 1 by means of an adhesive.
Although the conventional armrest has upper and lateral surfaces 102, 103 wholly covered by oak wood, and can reduce damage to forest resources, during processing of the upper veneer portion 201 of the veneer layer 2, which consists of heating the upper veneer portion 201 so as to make the same soft and bendable, the grain, gloss and pores of the upper veneer portion 201 may be destroyed.
Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide an armrest that is capable of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.
According to this invention, an armrest having a length, a minimum total width, and a maximum total height comprises an armrest body made of a wood material different from oakwood, an upper veneer layer made of oakwood, and two lateral veneer layers, each of which is made of oakwood. The armrest body extends in a longitudinal direction, and has a planar lower surface, a planar upper surface opposite to the lower surface, and two opposing planar lateral surfaces that interconnect the lower and upper surfaces. The upper veneer layer includes a curved top surface, and a planar bottom connecting surface fixedly attached to and covering the upper surface of the armrest body. The ratio of a maximum thickness of the upper veneer layer to the maximum total height of the armrest is at least 0.1. The maximum total height of the armrest is preferably at least 2xc2xc inches. Each of the lateral veneer layers includes a planar top end surface fixedly attached to the bottom connecting surface of the upper veneer layer, a bottom end surface opposite to the top end surface, a planar inner lateral surface fixedly attached to and covering a respective one of the lateral surfaces of the armrest body, and a curved outer lateral surface, which is opposite to the inner lateral surface and which is formed with a protruding rib that extends in the longitudinal direction, a planar surface section that extends from the bottom end surface to a lower edge of the rib, and a curved surface section that extends from an upper edge of the rib to the top end surface. The ratio of a minimum thickness of each of the lateral veneer layers to the minimum total width of the armrest is at least 0.1. The minimum total width of the armrest is preferably at least 1xc2xd inches.